Mystery Island 01
by needtakehave
Summary: AU!Alina & AU!Christian, Jericho & MacKayla all ended up on the island but at least they were together. Christian had been stuck in the silvers for what felt like forever but was finally reunited with Alina.


**Fandom(s)**: Fever (Karen Marie Moning)  
**Character(s)**: AU!Alina O'Connor, AU!Christian MacKeltar, Jericho Barrons, MacKayla Lane  
**Relationship(s)**: AU!Alina & AU!Christian, Jericho & MacKayla  
**Rating**: PG-13  
**Backstory**: Basically, we have one huge island where all our characters end up. There is a powerful player pulling them all there for an unknown (to them) reason. These are the stories of them being there and any romantic relationships they have or form there. The threads stop at different points in our storylines and then pick up right after or a bit later, continuing the story.  
**Disclaimer**: This is a PSL (private storyline) role play between **needtakehave** and **sarah_jones** on InsaneJournal. This is not meant to be normal fanfiction. It's a log of our posts in the PSL RP. Not everything we write is canon - a lot of it is altered for our RP or used with AU (Alternate Reality) characters. Please don't post nasty comments because it doesn't read like normal fanfiction or isn't completely canon.

Mac had been waiting, impatiently, for Barrons Jericho to get done for the day, as he rarely was ever been during the day. She still was trying to train herself to call him Jericho instead of Barrons. He'd never admit it, but it was hard for him not to always call her 'Ms. Lane'. He'd gotten better at it. He mostly just called her Ms. Lane when he was pissed at her. She smiled at that. Really, their relationships altered between fucking and being pissed off at each other about something - usually because they were arguing about something - nothing too important really though if you asked either of them, they'd act like it was life or death but it really wasn't. Dani recently made a zinger of a comment by telling them both she thought they liked to argue as foreplay. Not that Mac really thought Dani knew what foreplay really was but still, the kid did have a point. It even managed to shut them both up and to stop their bickering. Of course, shortly after when Dani left, they'd ended up naked and in bed soon after. So, Dani did have a point though neither of them acknowledged it. Luckily, now that the whole thing with the Fae had happened, and Mac had learned what he was, they both had learned what she was ... yadda yadda, but at least now they were on the same page and were okay with each others... quirks.

Frustrated, and tired of waiting for him, she started downstairs of the bookstore when she fell face first into a ditch.

"Yeah, because there are so many ditches in the bookstore! Barrons would have a coronary! What the fuck already?" she yelled, getting up, her hand rubbing her cheek and looking around.

It didn't look like Fairy but who knows. If she didn't know V'lane (who wasn't really V'lane) was tucked away in the book, she'd think he had brought her here.

"Hello?" she called out.

"Barrons!"

Alina stared at the door of Barrons Books & Baubles frowning. He wasn't there... again. She had been staking the damn book shop out for days, but Barrons just wouldn't show up. She was getting more and more frustrated. Christian was missing for over a month. His family couldn't find him. She couldn't either. She had done research and talked to the other Sidhe-Seers. But they were all too busy in post-wall Ireland to be of much help. She knew she should concentrate on killing Fae. It was her job, no, not just a job, it was her calling. She was a sidhe-seer, one of the most powerful. She was a null, and could sense the sinsar-dubh, which was still out there. She should try to find it. But she just couldn't help herself. Christian was missing! Whenever she thought about it she could barely breathe. She had to find Barrons and find out what he knew. If he was responsible for what happened she would kill the bastard, no matter if everyone else thought he couldn't be killed. She would find a way!

As anger rushed through her she stepped forward and banged against the door furiously.

"Barrons!" Maybe he was there after all and just avoided her.

After several minutes of shouting, hitting and kicking the door Alina finally gave up and turned around frustrated. Then she froze. The street was gone.

"What the hell?" she muttered stunned and glanced back. The book store was gone, too. Had a fae zone just appeared where she stood and swallowed her? Was she in Faery now? That was the last thing she needed now. She didn't even know which way to go to get out of it.

"Fuck!"

Feeling annoyed, angry and frustrated she started to walk, and then suddenly heard a voice.

_Barrons._

So someone else here was looking for Barrons. Did the bastard maybe even have something to do with this? She wouldn't put it past him. She should never have asked the guy for help in the first place.

"Hello?" she called. Maybe whoever was here knew which way to go to get out of here.

Mac turned switching, zoning in one the voice like it was the only thing in the world. At least she wasn't alone because though she hated to admit it, she wasn't the type of person who prospered being alone. Barrons? Sure, he didn't might it one bit but she did.

"Hello!" she called out again, starting to walk towards the voice.

"Barrons?" she said, as she walked. The voice hadn't been clear enough to tell if it was a male or female so maybe Barrons had found her.

She hoped so, she hated being apart from it. Besides, it always led to disaster. Case and point every time they'd been long-term separated.

Alina kept walking. There it was again, that voice. Somehow it sounded familiar, but she wasn't sure why. Then she saw a young woman in the distance.

"Over here," she called and waved. The woman was human. She'd know if she wasn't. Fae might appear human to most humans, but she could see through their glamour without any effort by now.

"Hi," she said as she walked closer and forced a smile onto her face. She didn't really feel like smiling, but it might be helpful when meeting a stranger.

MacKayla was about to say hi back when she spotted the woman's face.

She froze - literally. Her entire body froze.

She barely managed to swallow once, twice, then three times.

"Alina?" she whispered in the barest of whispers. The woman might not have been able to hear her, it was so soft.

Instantly she wanted Barrons, he'd sure as hell help her figure out what fucking fae was trying to play mind games with her and make her sister appear when she couldn't - she was DEAD.

Alina was about to introduce herself when she saw the look on the woman's face.

"What's wrong?" she asked looking around for any kind of danger. She didn't see anything. Turning back to the woman her eyes settled on her face once more. Then she frowned. Somehow she looked familiar. She had the same hair color as herself and her mother, but it wasn't just that. Her face... her features were so familiar, even though she had never seen them like that, not so grown up... Her eyes widened. It couldn't be! It was impossible. Everyone was supposed to have a look alike, right? Maybe this woman just looked a lot like her dead sister, who never had the opportunity to grow up? She didn't believe it for a second. This had to be a fae trick, or some kind of sorcery or druidry. Barrons!

"Stop it," she said as anger rushed through her once more.

Mac frowned.

This... _illusion_ had the gall to tell her to stop it? She wanted to roll her eyes at that.

"Seriously. Enough tricks. Which fae are you? Or are you just another head game from one of them? If so, you've had your fun... BARRONS!" she yelled, looking around. He was supposed to be here... Why was it unless she was dying, and not even then sometimes, he could ever manage to be around? She pulled her phone out and dialed his number, waiting for him to answer.

Alina narrowed her eyes, feeling insulted. How dare she call her a fae!

"_Me_?" she asked incredulous. "You've got to be kidding! You don't honestly think that will convince me that this is real, do you?" she asked, then went for her gun, pulling it from the back of her pants. She wished she had the sword, but it was Dani's turn tonight.

Barron's stared at his surroundings frowning.

"What the fuck?" he muttered. A second ago he had been walking into his... no, Mac's store. And now he was... wherever the hell he was. As he looked around, trying to make out if there were any fae nearby who were responsible, his phone rang.

"Mac, you okay?" he asked worried. He didn't need to ask if anything was wrong. There definitely was something wrong, big time! Fae usually didn't mess with him. He could kill them after all and fae loved nothing more than their own lives.

Mac sighed a breath of relief at hearing his voice.

"Yeah, I'm -" the froze as she watched the Alina-clone pull a gun of all things from her waistband.

"A gun? _Really_? Seriously... I mean come on. I thought after the whole Unseelie King, walls coming down, blah blah and I kicked all of your asses, you'd have realized by now that you can't kill me? I mean, seriously. _How_ many times have you killed me already? I just keep coming back!" she yelled at the clone, temporarily forgetting Barrons was on the other end of the line. It was true enough though, she _did_ keep coming back. She was quite proud of herself about that too. I mean, how many people died over and over and came back to life? Okay yeah, so Barrons did but he didn't count. She meant _normal_ people.

Barron's eyes widened at her words. "Did you just press the wrong button?" he muttered feeling agitated as he started to run. It sounded like IYD was more appropriate. On the other hand, a gun couldn't actually kill her. Still it would hurt and for that alone he would kill the shooter slowly. Luckily Mac wasn't far. He could feel her through his mark. Maybe they wouldn't need IYD after all.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Alina asked. This just didn't make any sense. If this was a trick whoever made this illusion did a horrible job. She probably should just shoot her now, but this could be an illusion that simply his whoever was really standing in front of her, like another sidhe-seer for example. For all she knew she would kill a friend.

"Why are you doing this? Show yourself, fight, don't hide like a coward!" she almost screamed. Her nerves were blank already. The walls came down, unseelie were everywhere, billions of people dead, the sinsar dubh loose killing survivors, Christian missing... and now some asshole fae or Barrons was showing her an illusion of her dead sister all grown up. Tears were threatening to fall, but she held them back. She would NOT cry!

Mac did roll her eyes now.

This Alina-clone was seriously pissing her off. Totally forgetting the phone, she pulled her arm down, though the phone was still on.

"Hiding? Whose hiding? I'm standing right here, you Alina-clone. Really though, you'd think by now you would have learned not to use my dead sister against me. We've been through that remember? It doesn't work. It only pisses me off and remember - you don't want me pissed off. No wonder Fae don't really evolve - you're so stupid," she snapped.

A year ago, old Mac would never say curse words, would have whimpered and cried at the sight of her dead sister. New Mac? New Mac laughed in your face while she killed you. Maybe Barrons had had a good effect on her after all.

Alina glared at the Mac illusion. The nerve... she had enough of this. It was time to end it. She should have done it sooner, but part of her actually did want to see a grown up Mac. She might never get another chance... Frowning she pushed that thought away and concentrated. Show me what is really there, she thought and concentrated hard. Nothing happened. She tried again, and again. Nothing. Was the illusion that good?

"It can't be..." she muttered. "You're dead," she said her voice breaking. She had been to her sisters funeral, had seen her 11 years old dead body.

Barrons let out a sigh of relief when he saw Mac, still standing, no bullet wound. Running as fast as he could he snatched the gun out of the woman's hand and with minimal effort pushed her backwards, away from Mac.

Suddenly the gun was pulled out of her hand. Alina didn't even see it happening. One moment she had a gun in her hand, the next she didn't. Then something hit her and she flew backwards, hitting the ground hard. A groan escaped her lips as pain rushed through her, but she didn't allow herself even a moment of rest. That could be deadly. Her sidhe-seer reflexes took over and she pushed herself up.

"You," she called when she recognized her attacker. "Of course this is all you," she added. "Are you having fun? Is that what this is about? Playing games? Is that what you were doing with the MacKeltars on Halloween? Amusing yourself? What did you do to Christian?" she demanded screaming now.

Barrons stared at the screaming woman, his eyes widening slightly as he recognized her from Mac's pictures. This obviously had to be an illusion, but an awful one. She didn't even make sense. Still, using Alina against Mac equaled a death sentence. The only question was how he would kill whoever was behind this.

"Stop this now and your death will be quick, keep it up and I will have fun killing you," he sneered.

Mac was about to really have it out with the clone when suddenly the gun was gone from her hand and she flew through the air.

She didn't have to turn to know Barrons was there and responsible for it. She could feel him, like he was apart of her, like they were two halves of a whole.

She sighed, caught between pissed off and just plain sad.

She frowned as the clone's last sentence cleared her mind, "Christian? What are you talking about? I didn't do anything to Christian. He's most likely at home or at the very least at the library or something..." Then he frowned again.

"Why are you looking at Barrons like that? And Barrons, what's she know about the MacKelters and Halloween?" she asked pointedly, wondering if there was something he'd "forgotten" to tell her about that night - like maybe he'd been cozied up to someone else but then she shook her head, no, even he wouldn't be as stupid as to sleep with someone who looked like her sister.

She was about to start a tirade of her own when a flash of light passed into the night, lighting up the sky followed by a body flying down from the sky to the ground at a neck-breaking speed before it slammed into the ground.

Mac winced, damn but that looked like it hurt.

Christian groaned, unsure if he could move. He was torn between relief, that he was finally free of the Silvers and agonized by whatever had caused him to crash into the earth.

He opened his eyes, squinting when he made out the figure not far from where he lay, sprawled on the ground, "Alina," he whispered.

"Is there a reason you believe any of what 'she' says?" Barrons asked narrowing his eyes as he glanced at Mac. He swallowed the 'quit being stupid' only because he knew Alina was Mac's soft spot and she was probably not thinking clearly.

Alina glared at both of them when something... no someone suddenly hit the ground between them. Her eyes widened when she recognized him.

"Christian," she called, then sank to the ground next to him, torn between immense relief to see him again and concern. That had been one hell of a fall.

"Are you okay?" she asked, her left hand taking his and her right one brushing a strand of her out of his face. Barrons and Mac were forgotten for the moment.

Barrons raised an eyebrow at the scene in front of them. "Is it just me or does this illusion make no sense?"

Mac shook her head hard, "Not at all. Alina is one thing - she'd dead but Christian? I mean, come on - it's not like we have a special bond or anything beyond being friends. You'd think the Fae would come up with someone better, like one of my parents..." she said.

Then she looked at Barrons, her eyes doing the talking.

_Do you think this could be real?_

Christian pushed his hand on the ground, trying to pull himself up off the ground but only managed a strangled groan.

"Don't really think so, Lina... God, that hurt but I don't care - the pain is worth it to be out of there and be with you again," he said, swallowing. He'd thought he was going to go insane. Actually, he had long since thought he had gone insane; alone in the Silvers, unable to escape, unable to even move.

Barrons smiled faintly. Not that it wasn't annoying that Mac considered a MacKeltar a friend, but at least she didn't seem to consider him that important. The thought soothed the beast inside of him. Christian MacKeltar might yet live another day... His days were probably still numbered, especially if he ever saw him on top of Mac again, like in the Unseelie Kings's bedroom...

When their eyes locked Barrons shrugged slightly.

_I don't know. Makes no sense. What do your sidhe-seer senses say?_

Glancing back at Christian and Alina he frowned before looking at Mac again.

_This illusion seems too bad to be one. Christian looks human._

When he came back from the silvers Christian looked like an unseelie prince.

Alina winced when she heard Christians groan, afraid of how badly he might be injured.

A slight smile appeared on her lips at his words.

"Where are you hurting? How bad is it? Is there anything I can do?" Probably not, since she was no druid, but maybe Christian could tell her what to do so she could help him heal. Her head then snapped up as she remembered Barrons. He probably knew healing magic, but she couldn't trust him again. Her eyes narrowed as she glared at him angrily. The Mac illusion or whatever she was was still there, but neither she nor Barrons did anything. Not that she was complaining, an attack was the last thing she needed now. Then a dreadful thought washed over her. What if Christian was an illusion, too? She felt reluctant to even try to find out. She couldn't lose him again. But she had to know. Concentrating hard with all of her sidhe-seer senses she commanded to see what was really there. Christian was still right in front of her. She let out a sigh of relief.

"You're really here," she whispered.

Christian managed a groan though he coughed and spat some blood out, "Of course it's me, love, who else would it be? I hope you weren't hoping for one of my brothers," he said, trying to make a joke of sorts.

Mac bit her lip, and nodded at Barrons.

Staring hard at the two before her, she concentrated, sending her senses out and over the two before her.

She waited, as if expecting them to change into something monstrous but nothing did.

She sighed a breath of relief, her face turning into a smile as she looked at Barrons before the smile slipped from her face like a board being washed. Her eyes widened. Breath came out in spurts.

"She's real..." she said, swaying from side to side as if she was going to pass out. Her brain unable to process the information that some way, somehow, this person that looked like her sister was not an illusion and for all tense and purposes was ... real and alive.

Alina's eyes widened in horror as he spat blood. Oh god, was he bleeding internally? How bad was it? Then he joked and she almost laughed. But she knew what he was doing. He hadn't answered a single question she asked. He was trying to distract her.

"Christian, talk to me. How bad is it," she demanded to know. "What can we do? Do you need a doctor?" Yeah right, as if there was one around. They probably were in Faery!

Barrons stared at Mac. Even though none of this made sense if this was an illusion, Alina being alive made even less sense, unless she was like him, which she wasn't. She smelled human.

"You saw her body, right?" he asked silently.

Mac managed a nod, "I had to identify the body. It was ... brutal and she was... torn up," she said, though that was putting it mildly, "But it was her... it was her, Barrons, so what is this?" she asked him, her eyes begging him to have the answer.

Christian managed a smile, his hands going to her face, to stroke her cheek.

"I'll be fine, just was a long way down to the ground I guess. Been in the silvers for... really, felt like eternity, not sure how long it was in reality. Don't worry."

Barrons sighed, wishing he had the answer. He hated not knowing what was going on, especially when Mac needed him. His hand went to her, squeezing slightly as his eyes said: let's find out. Stepping closer he crouched down.

"Looking good MacKeltar," he muttered. Not that he really looked good after his fall, but he looked human. "How'd you get rid of the unseelie in you?"

Alina was just about to answer Christian when Barrons joined them and spoke.

"What the hell are you talking about?" she demanded. "What unseelie? What happened at Halloween?"

Mac went to Barrons side, standing near him, unable to bend her legs that would bring her that much closer to the possibility of her sister. Even after everything she'd done, seen, been through, she still had vulnerabilities and Alina was at its center.

Christian choked out a laugh, "I haven't the first clue what you're talking about Barrons. I've been in the damn silvers since Halloween. What about you? You weren't exactly where you were supposed to be," he said.

Mac frowned, "Why do you keep harping on Halloween?" she finally demanded of Alina.

"I was the one that was pissed about Halloween with Barrons and we've since gone round and round over that so why should you care?" she asked, figuring that was a safer topic then how she could possibly be truly alive.

Barrons watched Christian as he spoke. He really didn't seem to know what he was talking about. He raised an eyebrow.

"Where was I supposed to be?" he asked hoping to figure out what was going on.

Alina looked up at Mac, torn between wanting to stare at her and wanting to look away.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. I don't even know who you are, because you can't be Mac! And Halloween... it's when everything went wrong..." she trailed off. She didn't need to tell them that, everyone knew. The whole world did know by now that the walls came down. "You were supposed to help keep the walls up," she continued looking at Barrons now. "You were supposed to keep Christian safe," she added. "Instead he disappeared and you wouldn't even tell me what happened. Just for the record, our deal is off!"

Barrons stared at Alina a little dumbfounded. She didn't look like she was lying, but what she said made no sense.

"What deal?" he asked growling slightly. "I never even met you before."

Christian watched the three of them go back and forth becoming confused himself. Why didn't Barrons know what he was talking about?

"Truth," he said finally, looking at Alina.

"He'd really never met you before, Lina. But how can that be?" he asked, mostly to himself, eyes narrowing as he struggled to sit up and see how bad, and if it was fatal, the damage was between the crashing and the silvers.

"Of course he'd never met her before! She'd suppose to be dead!" Mac exploded.

Then she frowned herself, looking at Barrons, "Though she is right about Halloween - it is when everything started to really go to hell. Ugh, none of this makes sense!" she yelled, frustrated.

Alina stared at Barrons unbelievingly. What game was he playing now? Then Christian said that he was telling the truth.

"But that's impossible," she muttered. Before she could say anything else Mac spoke up.

"I'm supposed to be dead? You're supposed to be dead! You died 13 years ago!" Her voice broke as she said it. Even though it had been years since Mac died Alina had never really gotten over the loss of her little sister. She always felt like she failed to keep her safe.

Alina's eyes went back to Christian as he struggled to sit. She quickly moved to help him, then sat down behind him so he could lean against her.

Barrons watched them all and listened to what they said, then stood up, his eyes narrowed as he tried to make sense of everything.

"Some old fae books speak of different worlds, not just different ones, like Faery and Earth, but alternate ones," he finally says. He had never believed it to be true. Not that he dismissed it. He had seen too much in his life to dismiss anything as being impossible. He just didn't trust in things before he knew they were fact.

"Maybe these books were right."

Mac looked at him disbelieving, "What, so you and I are from one world and they are from another alternate world? Where according to her," she said, pointing at Alina, "I died instead of her and earlier since Alina didn't die 13 years ago. Do you think that's really possible?" she asked, hopeful and yet trying not to make too much of it, considering how many times she'd been fooled with and then had her heart smashed to pieces over and over.

Christian leaned against Alina, trying not to put all his weight on her as he didn't want to hurt her.

"He speaks the truth, Alina. That's all I know - maybe he's right - maybe we're from a world like theirs but different and the same for them. How else can we explain your sister being alone when she should be dead? And Barrons having never met you?"

"Nothing is impossible, Mac," he said. His eyes added: you should know that by now.

Alina's arms went around Christian. Her whole body seemed to relax as she felt his body against hers. He was here and alive. Their whole world might have gone crazy, but she had him back and as long as she had him everything would be okay.

"I don't know," she said with a sigh. "I keep thinking my life can't get any crazier, but it always does." She glanced at Mac and Barrons.

"So what, more walls came down? Now alternate realities are bleeding into each other, too?" She then frowned slightly as she saw how close Mac and Barrons were standing. They seemed so familiar with each other. She hadn't really noticed it before with everything that had been going on. But now that she did she stared at them, not liking it at all. If this really was another version of Mac, then she was her baby sister, sort of. She did not like the thought of her sister and Barrons having any kind of relationship. He was a player and a jackass. She hated the way he treated people, especially women.

"Is there something going on between you two?" she said before she could stop herself.

Barrons glared at her. "None of your fucking business," he stated. As if they didn't have bigger issues here.

Alina glared at him.

Mac rolled her eyes at that.

Typical Barrons, when he didn't want to answer, you got a 'Fuck You' basically.

She smiled despite herself, looking at him.

_You never get tired of that, do you?_

Looking at Alina, she said, "I don't know how many more walls to come down. On our world, or whatever, all the walls came down. But it's fine - we fixed it all, well, as much as possible," she said, thinking of Cruce and the book and all of the rest of it. Sure, Fae were still about killing, Sidhe Seers still getting killed, humans being sucked dry, but hey, at least the hoards of hell wasn't coming through that portal anymore and they'd at least temporarily gotten rid of Cruce.

She realized she'd ignored Alina's question too.

"We are what we are," she said, as if that explained everything. Really though, there wasn't a definition for their relationship. They weren't married or engaged. They fucked a lot. On rare occasions they even made love. They fought all the time. They bickered. They sparred. In many ways they were as different as night and day and in other days, they could be the same person. As for love? Well... Truthfully, yeah, she loved him. She knew he cared but love? Who knew with Barrons but she liked to think he loved her - maybe she was still kidding herself but whatever.

Christian watched the two of them, as Alina asked the question, putting an awkward arm around her.

Yeah, there was definitely something going on between them.

Barronâ€™s eyes sparkled amused at Mac's thoughts.

_You know I never get tired of anything_, he answered, his eyes promising that he intended to show her that the moment they were alone.

"You fixed it?" Alina asked stunned. "How?"

_"We are what we are."_

Barrons couldn't help but laugh at her words. He rarely used to laugh, but since he knew Mac she managed to make him laugh more and more. At first it bothered him a little, but by now he actually enjoyed it.

"That we are," he agreed, his arm going around her waist, pulling her to him possessively before glaring at Alina and Christian, daring them to say something. Mac was his, no matter if her sister from an alternate world liked it or not. No one was ever going to take her from him.

Alina stared at Barrons as if he had grown another head. She had never heard him laugh before. Not that she knew him that well, but she couldn't have imagined him laughing, like ever. It somehow sounded wrong. When he glared at them she raised an eyebrow. The whole situation was weird and somehow disturbing. She would have to have a word with Mac, preferably alone.

Mac snuggled against the length of Barronâ€™s body instinctively, not even really thinking about it.

Her eyes closed briefly before Alina's question sunk in.

Opening her eyes, she chewed her lip nervously and looked at Barrons again.

_How much should we tell them? It's not like I'm there in their world, so they wouldn't know about the book 'creating' me and crap. Won't help their world either since she said I'm dead. This whole thing is weird._

Christian managed to get up, struggling the entire way, gritting his teeth. Staggering, he took a good long look at the pair of them.

They looked ... cozy, natural.

Barrons, in fact, looked ... happy and that in itself was enough to think the world was ending. Barrons never looked anything else beyond pissed off or blank. Well, okay, he also looked murderous a lot but still. Never happy, good emotions. Didn't think the asshole even had any, or was capable of them.

"This is ... insane. How different could two realities be?" he said outloud, though more to himself.

Feeling Mac's body against him Barrons relaxed. It was a bit of a new feeling. Usually she just turned him on. Now she also made him feel comfortable, like as long as she was with him they would get through anything, no matter how weird. Not that she didn't still turn him on, she always did that, but he pushed that thought away quickly. He would get back to it once they were alone.

_Very weird_, he agreed.

"How about we try and find our way out of here," he said. Just like Mac he had no clue how to answer Alina's question, so he simply ignored it like all questions he didn't feel like answering.

When Christian got up so did Alina, then quickly moved towards him to help him if he needed it.

"You okay?" she asked looking at him, hoping he finally would tell her how he really was doing, but she doubted it. Typically man, never admitting if they were hurt. And if he didn't want to answer a question Christian could be almost as evasive and annoying as Barrons.

"Pretty different apparently," Alina answers. "Don't think our Barrons knows what laughing is," she added silently.

Barrons heard her of course, but said nothing. She was probably right. Mac was dead in their world, something he didn't even want to think about. Without her there would be nothing to laugh about.

"Let's get going," he decided, then looked at Christian. "Think you can walk?" he asked fixing him with a glare that said don't even think about making me carry you.

Christian laughed hard at that though he pulled on his chest doing so.

"Man, I couldn't let you carry me if every bone in my body was broke and I had no other way to get away from an army of Fae so you can just wipe that look off your face... Some things, apparently, are still the same reality to reality," he said, looking back at Alina.

"I'll be fine," he promised, offering her a private smile.

_"Don't think our Barrons knows what laughing is."_

Mac grinned at that, though she figured Alina hadn't meant for everyone to hear her.

"Tell me something I don't know. For the longest time I thought the same thing. You just gotta give him time, he's a tough nut to crack. Course, it helps when you are the right nutcracker," she said, her eyes laughing at him as she looked at him. Now that you needed a nut cracker to crack him but that she was the nutcracker and the only one that was able to crack him.

Christian nodded to Barrons though, about the walking, and was about to start in one direction, figuring it didn't really matter which way they went when there was a loud sound. It was so loud, it could probably break the sound barrier.

Feeling like her head was about to explode, Mac put her hands over her ears.

"What the hell is that?" she managed to get out just before a large ... dinosaur came into the clearing where they were at.

Doing a double take, Mac realized it wasn't a dinosaur exactly but something else, what she had no idea - but whatever it was, it was huge. It reminded her in many ways of the beast Barrons became and of the flying hunters.

"Great... Just great," she said.

Alina nodded at Christian, hoping he really would be.

"You better be, because if you die on me I'm going to kill you," she said jokingly.

When Mac spoke Alinas's eyes fixed on her. She was so different than the Mac she knew, but why wouldn't she be, she was a woman, not a child.

"I wouldn't have thought a sledge hammer could crack that nut," she answered.

"Fuck," Barrons muttered as he saw the creature heading for them. He didn't have time to change, nor would it be a good idea to do it in front of Alina and a MacKeltar, no matter from which world they were.

Alina cursed as she saw the dinosaur like monster coming towards them.

"Where's my gun," she demanded. But Barrons was already gone. She hadn't even seen him move. Her eyes widened as she saw him stop in front of the creature and shoot it with her gun.

She swallowed. She'd long since got rid of the spear and sword she'd used for so long after Barrons and her had realized that they were the only two things that could kill her.

Maybe... just maybe she could she could voice the creature into stopping. She'd gotten worlds better at that. If not, if she had to, she could tap into the power she had as a human replica of sorts of the book. Only as a last resort though.

Christian pulled Alina to him, fearing she'd get caught in the creaturesâ€™ sights. He watched in horror as Barrons long himself on the creature. Damn but that man was fast.

Mac walked in front of the monster, as it waved one way and the other, trying to buck Barrons off.

Stiffening her spine, she took a breath.

"Are you insane? Get out of the way!" Christian yelled at her.

Mac ignored him.

"STOP!" she screamed, trying to voice the monster.

Alina's eyes widened when Mac just ran towards the creature.

"Mac!" she yelled horrified. She could not lose her sister again, no matter from what world she was. But what could she do? She didn't even have a weapon.

Barrons frowned when the creature kept coming even after he had emptied the gun into it. Just before it would have run him down he jumped onto its back, pulled out a knife and dug it into the creaturesâ€™ neck. Then he watched in horror as Mac stepped in front of them. Then she voiced the creature, and it actually stopped. Unbelievable! Only Mac could try and voice an animal and actually manage it.

Mac managed to make her body not shake in utter terror. She'd really hoped voicing would work. Sure, it would kill her if not and since it didn't have the sword or spear they'd destroyed, then yeah, she'd come back to life but damn if that did not really, really hurt. Sometimes she didn't even die so much as just lay there in agony beyond measure for hours until her body repaired herself. Really, she preferred death over that - that was just insane.

"Whew. See, it worked. I knew it would," she said, smiling a sheer cocky fake smile at Barrons, though she knew he would see through it instantly.

She took a deep breath and tried something she'd never tried before, "DIE!" she said using the voice.

Behind her, arms around Alina, Christian watched in awe and more than a little horror as the creature crashed to the ground and actually seemed to die. But that wasn't possible - alternate reality or not, things could not be that different - right?

As the creature went down Barrons jumped off it, then stared at it before turning to Mac, a look of utter disbelief on his face, but it soon changed to amazed pride.

"You're fucking unbelievable," he said as he stepped towards her, pulled her against his body and kissed her hungrily.

Alina stared from the dead creature to Mac and Barrons, unsure what shocked her more, Mac telling something to die and it complying or Barrons kissing her as if he wanted to eat her alive. If it was anyone else she would have told them to get a room, but she did not want Mac to get a room with Barrons. The mere thought made her feel queasy.

Pulling away from Mac Barrons looked down at her. "Don't ever do that again. You nearly have me a fucking heart attack." He knew Mac couldn't actually die, but seeing her get trampled would have been awful anyway. Watching her die seemed to rip out his heart every time. Luckily a ripped out heart could no more kill him than it could her.

When she finally managed to breathe normally again and get over her shock Alina walked towards Mac and Barrons.

"How did you do that?"

Mac smiled up at Barrons as he pulled her to him. Her hands went up to his neck, twisting around it, bringing his head closer. When he lips met hers, practically devouring them, her insides went to mush - but it was always like that with him.

"Don't ever do that again. You nearly have me a fucking heart attack."

She laughed, "I'd say I won't but we both know I'd be lying," she said, a sparkle in her eyes.

"Seriously though, can't believe it worked."

For a moment, she had forgotten her sister was there when she heard her to the side of them.

_"How did you do that?"_

Mac turned her, back against Barrons' front, meshed against him as if they were two puzzle pieces that fit perfectly.

She looked from Christian's astonished look to Alina.

"I used Voice and no -" she said, putting her hand up to stop Alina's onslaught of questions before they began, "I can't teach you it. Barrons taught me and he said usually it takes a lifetime or more to learn. Besides, I wouldn't want to ever make someone else do all the stuff he made me do to teach me to use it. It's just cruel," she said, and it had been - cruel that was but if she hadn't learned, she'd have been a victim... well, practically every day instead of just every other day.

Barrons gave her a slightly amused look. She was so right about that. It was hopeless to think she would stay out of trouble. The more he told her to the more likely she would get into trouble.

"Me neither, you continue to amaze me," he said.

Hearing Mac's words Alina narrowed her eyes. Cruel? That sounded like Barrons. She threw a glare at him. How the hell had he managed to make Mac fall for him?

Barrons smirked slightly at the look Alina gave him. It said _hurt my sister and I'll kill you_.

He answered it with a look of his own: _She's mine. Try taking her from me and I'll kill you_. Not that he would ever do it. Alternate reality or not Alina was Mac's sister and she had lost her once already. He would die for good before he'd let Mac go through that again. But Alina didn't need to know that.

Mac smirked at Barrons, "About time. Remember the days when you thought I only knew the word pink and happy?" she asked, though she knew he did.

Then she saw Alina's look and his own.

She punched him in the arm lightly.

"Enough posturing. Jeez. How about I take care of myself?" she said, before turning back to Alina.

"I just... can't get over it. It seems impossible. I buried you not that long ago. I had to come and identify the body. Maybe it's like opposite realities or something? I mean... you did say I was dead, but wait, you made it sound like I'd been dead for years... So maybe not... but Christian, look at Christian, Jericho - he looks so... normal, like he used to before..." she said, trailing off.

Taking a step forward, Christian's eyes were on Barrons, not trusting him for a moment, though he asked Mac, "What do you mean 'before'? Before what? And what do you mean 'normal'?"

"I didn't just think that," Barrons said teasingly. Mac really had come a long way.

When she punched him Barrons barely felt it. "Quit that, you might hurt yourself."

Alina stared at Barrons and Mac. Even though he was every bit the jackass she knew there was also something different about this Barrons. If she didn't know better she'd thing he might actually care about Mac. But that couldn't be true, could it? Mac's words then pulled her out of her thoughts.

"You had to identify my body?" she asked wincing. She hated the thought of that. "I'm sorry."

She then nodded. "You died when you were 11." Alina took a deep breath and tried to push away the memories. They still hurt too much.

"Before you turned unseelie prince," Barrons said not bothering with tact.

Alina sucked in a breath. "Unseelie prince?"

Mac shrugged, trying to pretend it didn't bother her, "Eh, what was left of it anyway."

Mac nodded at Alina, "Yeah, he- you, you started to become one while you were in the silvers."

Christian shook his head, "I was just in the silvers. It was where I've been for ... how long was I gone, Alina?" he asked before continuing, "But I'm fine - see? Well... pretty much, I think, considering," he said, looking down at himself in sudden alarm he might be unseelie.

Mac shook her head, "Yeah, but... well, I guess you didn't have me there so the other stuff didn't happen that... made you like that I guess," she said, apologetically, as if he were the Christian she'd done it to.

Alina's eyes widened at Mac's words, but she didn't say anything. She had a feeling she didn't really want to know what happened to her in this Mac's world. And she didn't want to remind Mac of it either.

"About three weeks," Alina said. It had felt like an eternity though.

Alina felt torn between wanting to know what exactly happened that could turn a human into an unseelie prince and wanting to tell Mac to shut up. The mere thought of Christian being an unseelie made her feel sick and scared.

"It's not going to happen to you," she said, her hand taking Christians. It simply couldn't.

"Let's get going," Barrons said. "We need to find our way back home." He however wasn't sure which home they would find once they got out of here. Would it be their reality or Alina and Christian's?

"Right... It's not going to happen to you," Mac assured Christian. It couldn't - well, it could but the odds were way off. She had been the catalyst really by feeding him unseelie and she wouldn't do that again - she knew better so problem solved.

Turning to Barrons, she nodded, "Yeah, Dani is going to be worried sick though she won't admit it. Sides, I'd personally like to know who or what brought us here, ya know?"

Christian's eyes widened, "Three weeks? It felt like ... well, a lot longer than that."

Mac nodded, "Silvers has a way of doing that."

Christian frowned, "You've been there? But how? No one who ever goes in ever cones out."

Mac smiled, "What can I say? I'm special," she said, with a shrug and a laugh Barrons' way.

"You think someone specifically targeted us and brought us here?" Barrons asked. Since the walls came down worlds had been bleeding into each other. This might be just another repercussion of the walls coming down. On the other hand they had made enemies.

"If someone did this they will regret it," he said softly.

Alina smirked at Mac's words. Yeah, she had always known that Mac was special, even though her little sister never seemed to believe it.

"You came out, too," she said and nudged Christian slightly. "Guess you're special as well." She grinned at him.

Barrons smiled slightly at Mac's words. Very special, his eyes said. Then he started to walk, pulling Mac with him.


End file.
